The Yale Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center was established in the Spring of 1993 with the goal of promoting research in diabetes and related metabolic and endocrine disorders at the University. The Center brings together a multidisciplinary group of nearly 100 member scientists as well as professional supporting staff, new investigators and research trainees from the Departments of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Immunobiology, Biology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Genetics, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Physiology, Pharmacology, Surgery, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Neurology, Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Diagnostic Radiology, Psychology, Pathology, Laboratory Medicine, and from the Schools of Public Health and Nursing and the Pierce Laboratory. The scope of the research activities of the membership is very broad, ranging from basic molecular biology to whole body physiology and the treatment of diabetic patients. The members, however, share a common interest in research that is related to diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism or is fundamental to understanding its pathogenesis or for the development of new treatment strategies. The design of the Yale DERC is aimed at developing an infrastructure that could serve as a catalyst to stimulate innovative research. The cornerstone of the Center is its six Research Cores that provide funded basic and clinical investigators with the opportunity to more efficiently utilize resources and expand the scope of their research programs. The Clinical Metabolism and the new Diabetes Translational Cores facilitate metabolic research in patients, whereas the Molecular, Transgenic, Animal Genetics, Animal Physiology and Cell Biology Cores that comprise the Animal Resource Program offer investigators the tools to create and test novel animal models starting from the molecule and ending with biological outcomes. The Administrative Core oversees the operation of the Center, its Pilot/Feasibility Project and Enrichment Programs, and helps to coordinate patient-based research in diabetes. The goals of the DERC are to: 1) stimulate multidisciplinary interactions, particularly between basic and clinical scientists;2) efficiently organize time consuming and/or costly techniques through Core facilities to enhance the productivity of investigators conducting research in diabetes related areas;3) promote new research programs through pilot feasibility projects;4) enhance the quality of research training, and 5) create a stimulating institutional environment that enhances research efforts to develop new strategies to prevent and treat diabetes and related metabolic and endocrine disorders at the local and national level.